Shloka 64

Devanagari script

सत्त्वं हि मूलमर्थस्य वितथं यदतो5न्यथा । नतु प्रसक्त भवति वृक्षच्छायेव हैमनी,“आत्मबल ही धनका मूल है, इसके विपरीत जो कुछ है, वह मिथ्या है; क्योंकि हेमन्त- ऋतुमें वृक्षोंकी छायाके समान वह आत्माकी दुर्बलता किसी भी कामकी नहीं है

Transliteration

sattvaṁ hi mūlam arthasya vitathaṁ yad ato 'nyathā | na tu prasaktaṁ bhavati vṛkṣacchāyeva haimanī ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana berkata: “Sattva—kekuatan batin—adalah akar sejati kemakmuran. Apa pun yang dikatakan sebaliknya adalah keliru. Sebab tanpa kekuatan itu, harta tidak benar-benar melekat atau berguna—laksana teduhnya pohon di musim dingin, yang sedikit manfaatnya.”

Word by Word

सत्त्वम्strength, inner power

हिindeed, for

मूलम्root, basis

अर्थस्यof wealth/purpose

वितथम्false, futile

यत्that which

अतःfrom this, hence; than this

अन्यथाotherwise, differently

नnot

तुbut

प्रसक्तम्attached; effective/fit (contextual)

भवतिbecomes, is

वृक्षच्छायेवlike the shade of a tree

हैमनीin the winter season

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

vṛkṣa-chāyā (tree shade)

hemanta (winter season)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that true prosperity and effective accomplishment depend on sattva—inner strength, steadiness, and moral courage. External resources without inner power are unreliable and largely useless.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana delivers a reflective maxim within the Vana Parva discourse, emphasizing that success in life and the pursuit of artha must be grounded in personal strength; otherwise, wealth and means fail to yield results—illustrated by the winter tree-shade simile.